POLICY & POLITICS
Valley:
Ex-Supervisor Rubio makes Capitol Weekly list
Bakersfield Californian
Former Kern County Supervisor and state senator Michael Rubio has landed on Capitol Weekly’s Top 100 list, an annual look at Californians who have an outsized influence on state politics or policy but do not hold office.
Gary Condit started political career on Ceres council. Grandson soon will follow
Modesto Bee
Chance Condit will be unopposed in November for a seat on the Ceres City Council, where grandfather Gary Condit launched his political career.
City seeking proposals for El Dorado Street City Hall
Stockton Record
Once administration offices in Stockton City Hall move to their new digs on Weber Avenue, officials are hoping the current building can be reused to revitalize downtown.
Twitter bans GOP candidate’s (Eliz. Heng) ad for ‘inappropriate content,’ then relents
San Francisco Chronicle
Last week, Facebook banned California Republican House candidate Elizabeth Heng’s biographical four-minute ad for five days before restoring it after facing public pressure. Twitter also banned the ad, before restoring it Thursday.
Youth in California’s Central Valley are reclaiming region’s activist roots
EdSource
Decades after civil rights icons Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta brought worldwide attention to the plight of farm workers in California’s Central Valley, a new generation of activists are making an impact in the region — with the focus now on the myriad issues facing young people and efforts to get them involved in civic affairs.
Youth Voter Turnout Is Low, But These Central Valley College Students Want That To Change
VPR
Summers for college students usually mean part time jobs or summer school. But this year, one group of students have dedicated their time to civic engagement.
Your Chance to Honor Mike Rhodes, Who Still is Elevating Fresno
GV Wire
Mike Rhodes, who never smoked a cigarette in his life, went to the doctor at the beginning of the year for a sore hip—now he’s battling lung cancer.
State:
California’s $918 million computer program has hidden costs, State Auditor says
Sacramento Bee
California state Auditor Elaine Howle on Thursday released another warning about a $918 million budget technology program, finding that it’s running up costs in the government departments that are using it and that some organizations are reluctant to adopt it.
Gavin Newsom defends gas tax and high-speed rail, accuses Trump of bankrupting the nation
Los Angeles Times
Gavin Newsom, the Democratic front-runner for governor, on Thursday criticized efforts to repeal California’s recently approved gas tax increase and defended the state’s controversial high-speed rail project, two of the most contentious issues the next governor will face.
Los Angeles Times
Facing a key deadline for legislation to move forward, California lawmakers on Thursday rejected dozens of bills, including a state-run bank for marijuana growers, government healthcare services for those in the U.S. illegally and hotel panic buttons for cleaning crews who fear sexual assault.
Federal:
Online trolls are using immigration as a wedge issue for November elections
Los Angeles Times
Researchers warn the online disinformation campaign is likely to grow more sophisticated, with bad actors tailoring their content to target communities of color — and to hide who is controlling the message.
Newt Gingrich: Here are three big lessons from the primaries this week
Fox News
Tuesday’s primaries had three big lessons.
Why Democrats Keep Fighting the Kavanaugh Nomination
WSJ
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's Senate confirmation hearings will start on Sept. 4. Odds appear good that he will be confirmed as the newest justice, yet Democrats continue to fight the nomination vigorously.Here are some of the reasons why.
See also:
EDITORIAL: The Senate needs to see more of Judge Kavanaugh’s records Los Angeles Times
Opinion: 7 Ways the Senate Can Spend the Rest of August
Roll Call
While some in D.C. were caught up in the Trump train wrecks of the day, a few real problems bubbled up while senators were gone, Murphy writes.
Other:
No, one-third of African Americans don’t support Trump. Not even close.
Washington Post
It's time for a reality check.
Free-speech conservatives, this is your call to arms
Washington Post
To all those supposed constitutional conservatives out there, consider this your call to arms: The First Amendment is under direct attack, and this time from a much more powerful foe than misguided college freshmen.
Our republic will never be the same
Washington Post
Celebrity culture has infected our democracy; this president shows us what that means.
AGRICULTURE/FOOD
Valley farmers want end to trade war
ABC30
Valley growers are feeling the bite of the trade war, with major crops already seeing substantial losses.
See also:
● California farmer trump trade war tariff losses agriculture The Fresno Bee
● Winning no more: Statistics, anecdotes demonstrate cost of tariffs to growers Bakersfield Californian
● EDITORIAL: Why Donald Trump's trade war may crush Central Valley farmers San Diego Union-Tribune
Wave of agriculture robotics holds potential to ease farm labor crunch
CNBC
Some farmers are responding to the worsening farm labor shortageby turning to automated harvesting equipment and other advanced technology that perform tasks such as pruning, seeding and weeding.
Cannabis tax revenue in California falls short of projections — again
San Francisco Chronicle
The kinks, complications and competing interests plaguing legalized marijuana sales in California were reflected this week in tax revenue from cannabis that fell short of projections for the first six months of the year.
Proposed state legislation could allow legal home deliveries of marijuana across California
ABC30
Pizza, pasta, and now pot? Cannabis supporters are pushing to add marijuana deliveries to Fresno's menu. Not everyone is happy.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE / FIRE / PUBLIC SAFETY
Crime:
Repeat racism at Valley prison, lawsuit says
ABC30
A racist is running roughshod in a Central Valley prison, according to a new lawsuit filed by an African-American correctional officer.
Parlier cracking down on alcohol sale violations
ABC30
The City of Parlier is cracking down on alcohol sale violations thanks to a $20,000 grant from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Federal judge likely to allow suit to force California to make all portions of execution public
Los Angeles Times
A federal judge said Thursday that he was inclined to rule against a motion by the state of California to dismiss much of a lawsuit that seeks to make public all portions of executions.
See also:
EDITORIAL: When the death penalty can be bad for business LA Times
Public Safety:
Local businesses contracting Fresno Police for security
ABC30
More than 18 businesses, from Walmart to Fashion Fair Mall, now contract with Fresno police. Apple and Lululemon are the latest customers. Officers say their ability to immediately call for backup resources and make arrests makes them extremely valuable and popular.
In emergencies, cell phone alerts can be too slow to save lives. Can the system be fixed?
Sacramento Bee
Before the flames appeared, Sandie Freeman thought the sky above her Redding home looked especially beautiful.
California moves to eliminate monetary conditions for release under revised bail bill
Sacramento Bee
California would eliminate cash bail, going further than any other jurisdiction in the country to remove money from its pretrial release system, under a legislative proposal unveiled Thursday.
See also:
● California lawmakers consider proposal to eliminate bail AP
● Proposal to radically overhaul California's bail system advances in Legislature Los Angeles Times
● California bill to overhaul bail system clears key legislative committee San Francisco Chronicle
● California’s bill to end cash bail could make history—and splinter the left CALmatters
Bid to open California's secret police misconduct files takes major step forward
Los Angeles Times
An effort to make some internal law enforcement investigations open to the public cleared a key hurdle in the Legislature on Thursday, marking the first time in four decades that lawmakers could vote to meaningfully increase transparency surrounding police misconduct.
How CA Fwd data and counties can create public safety success inside and outside of jail
CAFWD
Leaders from three California counties gathered in Riverside last month present the work they are doing to transform their justice systems using data driven-evidence, cross-system collaboration and capacity building programs. The participants were from Riverside, San Bernardino and Santa Cruz counties, the three counties that participated in CA Fwd’s Justice System Change Initiative (JSCI).
Fire:
Scientists have a forecast for the rest of California’s fire season. It isn’t pretty.
Fresno Bee
Bad news for the West: Even after firefighters have already battled 101 large blazes this year, the remainder of wildfire season is expected to be hotter and drier than normal, virtually assuring there will be more destruction ahead, scientists for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Thursday.
Melted car batteries and twisted metal: How California cleans up after a ‘firenado’
Fresno Bee
This week, the state Department of Toxic Substances Control begins the early stages of the cleanup from the devastating fire that wiped out more than 1,000 homes in Redding last month.
See also:
● ‘Mayday!’ New details explain how Carr Fire killed two on front lines of fire tornado Fresno Bee
● Rare 'fire tornado' killed firefighter as he raced toward burning Redding neighborhood during Carr blaze Los Angeles Times
● Catastrophic fire tornadoes: a terrifying new challenge San Francisco Chronicle
Firefighters achieve major milestone in battle against Ferguson Fire
Fresno Bee
Fire officials reported Thursday the Ferguson Fire for the first time did not grow overnight, a significant milestone in the fire’s month-long existence.
See also:
● Yosemite reopens to tourists, but Oakhurst still impacted ABC30
● ‘There’s still a lot of work to be done.’ Ferguson Fire full containment date moved up Sierra Star
Trump administration promises teamwork — not more money — to reduce fire risk
Fresno Bee
The Trump administration has a new plan to reduce the risk of forest fires by enabling better collaboration with state and local officials. But it’s short on details and ducks issues like climate change and logging.
As Fire Seasons Intensify, California Homeowners Struggle To Stay Insured
PS Magazine
A changing climate, increasingly destructive fires, and disappearing insurance policies have left homeowners wondering how much risk is too much.
EDITORIAL : Clear-cutting forests won’t solve California’s wildfire problem. But this will
Sacramento Bee
Now nearly everyone, it seems, is in favor of more “forest management” to reduce fuel for California’s record wildfires. To make sure the Trump team doesn’t go too far, we need to keep some level of environmental review of logging projects.
ECONOMY / JOBS
Economy:
Are you part of a shrinking ‘middle class’? You might be surprised
Fresno Bee
If your household income in Fresno County is somewhere between $33,000 and $98,000 a year, congratulations. No matter your politics or your social attitudes, you’re in the middle class, at least from an economic perspective. The thing is, there’s a smaller share of households falling into the “middle class” income range now than much of the past four decades.
Trump Directs SEC to Study Six-Month Reporting for Public Companies
WSJ
President Trump said he asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to study moving financial reporting for publicly traded companies to a six-month schedule rather than the current quarterly system.
See also:
● Trump Seeks SEC Study of 6-Month Reporting Instead of Quarterly Bloomberg
● President Trump asks SEC to study abolishing quarterly earnings reports CNN
● Trump calls for study on ending to quarterly earnings reports Los Angeles Times
Internet sales tax gives e-commerce companies a stake in local government
Brookings
The e-commerce boom has cost states billions of dollars in lost tax revenues, but a recent Supreme Court case has opened the door for state governments to collect sales tax on online purchases made at out-of-state businesses, giving companies a financial stake in every state where they do business.
Trump Says He Is in ‘No Rush’ to Renegotiate Nafta
WSJ
‘If we don’t have a breakthrough, don’t do the deal’
Jobs:
Crackdown on non-licensed contractors in Fresno
ABC30
From tree trimmers, to painters, and pool repairers, Workers who thought they were showing up for bids at a Southeast Fresno home, were caught up in a sting by the State Contractor's Licensing Board. The target: businesses who are operating without licenses and insurance.
New Data Explorer: Low-Wage Work in California
UC Berkeley Labor Center
The Low-Wage Work in California Data Explorer offers an in-depth look at the people who make up California’s low-wage workforce and provides users with graphics, tables, research summaries, interactive visualizations, and downloadable data. The explorer provides a wide range of information on the state’s low-wage workforce, including demographics, job characteristics, industries, occupations, use of public assistance programs, and geography.
See also:
● Who are CA’s low-wage workers? CALmatters
Youth Unemployment Hits 52-Year Low
WSJ
Data suggest more opportunities are available to some groups that historically struggled to find jobs.
WSJ
Trump is being lobbied to reappoint a union obstructionist at the labor relations board.
EDUCATION
K-12:
18 elementary schools are back in session
Hanford Sentinel
All schools in the Lemoore Union Elementary School and Hanford Elementary Unified School District began Tuesday, a total of 18 schools.
Whitley Elementary School opens to students for first time
Bakersfield Californian
Hundreds of parents and their kids got to explore the new Whitley Elementary School Thursday for the first time.
Education Matters - Mechanized Ag Gift
KSEE 24
From driverless tractors to computer-driven equipment, agriculture has gone high-tech!
Boxer Jose Ramirez, Fresno State Officials Distribute Backpacks To Children
Fresno State News
More than 1,200 students at Huron Elementary and Middle schools received new backpacks stuffed with supplies and a letter of encouragement from Fresno State President Joseph I. Castro for the new school year.
A promising alternative for measuring student poverty
Brookings
With the long-trusted method of identifying low-income students—eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch—quickly becoming useless, Matthew Chingos presents a new, more accurate method which several states have adopted and which promises to dramatically improve educators’ ability to measure student achievement gaps.
AALRR
Education Code section 55220 has long provided community college districts with immunity from claims for injuries sustained on field trips and excursions, including travel related to interscholastic athletic events.
Higher Ed:
UC Merced celebrates campus expansion
ABC30
Part of a $1.3 billion project to expand the campus at UC Merced is finally complete, and on Thursday the community got the chance to see it for the first time.
Fresno State News
These programs are offered at our location at 700 Van Ness at Mono in Downtown Fresno. Please check back as classes are added to the calendar regularly.
Students from Azores study Ag at Fresno State
Fresno State News
Three students from Portugal are spending part of their summer at Fresno State's dairy unit!
DACA is really helping young immigrants. But are they too afraid, unsure to renew
NBC News
Almost all DACA recipients surveyed in a study are in school or working. Yet a majority worry about deportation on a daily basis, even with DACA status.
CHSU receives six-year WASC accreditation
Clovis Roundup
California Health Sciences University announced Wednesday that it is now accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).
A Long-term View of Higher Education Funding
PPIC
Along with tuition, state General Fund allocations are the largest source of revenue for California’s public colleges and universities. Overall, the state’s largest General Fund expenditures are in two areas: K–12 education, which has increased in relative size over time, and health and human services, which has experienced slight long-term declines.
California’s College Promise: Moving Beyond the Call for Free College for All
California Budget & Policy Center
This summer Jerry Brown signed his final budget as Governor of California.
NY University offers free tuition for all medical students
Stockton Record
New York University is offering free tuition for all of its medical students. The move is a first among major U.S. medical schools.
ENVIRONMENT/ ENERGY
Environment:
California cannot let Trump’s attacks detract from our environmental diligence
Fresno Bee
The Trump administration is waging war on California’s coasts and inland areas. This month, it took steps to open 1.6 million acres of public land in the state to oil drilling and fracking.
Plastic straws ban is quite a straw man
Visalia Times Delta
Are plastic straws an even greater menace to society than plastic guns? You might think so, given this summer's upsurge in anti-straw activism.
Sacramento Bee
Careful stewardship of the environment has long been a central tenet of California conservatism.
Forget the fires, Californians should be worried about air quality all year
Sacramento Bee
More than half a dozen test sites throughout the Sacramento Valley routinely registered higher measurements of the potentially harmful substance known as PM2.5 during the month of January, according to Sacramento Bee analysis of data from California Air Resources Board.
Climate change is helping crank up the temperatures of California's heat waves
Los Angeles Times
Are these punishing summer heat waves the consequences of global warming or the result of familiar weather patterns? The answer, scientists say, is both.
See also:
● Facts about 100 Degree Temperatures at Fresno WRH
Trump Administration Exploring Possibility of Opening Up California Land to Fracking
Public CEO
The Trump administration this week took the preliminary steps toward opening around 1.6 million acres of public land in California to hydraulic fracturing and oil drilling.
Jury Award In Roundup Case Opens Door For Other Monsanto Lawsuits
VPR
A jury last week awarded a California man with terminal cancer $289 million dollars in a lawsuit against agri-chemical giant Monsanto. The jury agreed with plaintiff Dewayne Johnson’s claim that his exposure to the popular herbicide Roundup resulted in his non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
Energy:
Fresno makes $10 million streetlight deal with PG&E
ABC30
Most of Fresno's streetlights will be soon burning brighter, thanks to a deal reached between the city and PG&E. Fresno Mayor Lee Brand says the deal approved by the City Council on Thursday is a good one.
HEALTH/HUMAN SERVICES
Health:
CVS 'video visits' represent a genuine improvement to the healthcare system
Los Angeles Times
Video healthcare, or “telehealth,” is taking a big step toward the mainstream as pharmacy giant CVS Health rolls out internet access to its MinuteClinic treatment facilities in California and a handful of other states.
‘Worrisome’ levels of lead, arsenic in baby foods
San Francisco Chronicle
A new analysis of packaged baby foods from Consumer Reports suggests that parents may want to limit their babies’ intake of those jars of Beech-Nut sweet potatoes and Earth’s Best Organic chicken and brown rice — or at least to rotate them with other foods — to reduce their risk of exposure to heavy metals.
FDA Approves Teva’s Generic Version of EpiPen Injector
WSJ
Move follows disputes over cost of the device to treat anaphylactic shock
Human Services:
CHSU receives six-year WASC accreditation
Clovis Roundup
California Health Sciences University announced Wednesday that it is now accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).
NY University offers free tuition for all medical students
Stockton Record
New York University is offering free tuition for all of its medical students. The move is a first among major U.S. medical schools.
California medical board suspended his license, but says he kept seeing patients
Fresno Bee
The Medical Board of California has accused a Fresno orthopedic surgeon of practicing medicine on a suspended license.
Denying green cards to legal immigrants won't fix the welfare system — it will cost taxpayers more
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration will soon place new limits on legal immigration with a regulatory change that will penalize newcomers just because they could use public benefits in the U.S. The point, according to a spokesman for the president, is “to ensure that the government takes the responsibility of being good stewards of taxpayer funds.”
IMMIGRATION
‘Courts should be sensitive locations.’ ICE agents at Tulare courthouse stirs concerns
Fresno Bee
Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents showed up at the Tulare County Superior Court on Thursday, on the heels of ICE arrests of undocumented immigrants at the Fresno County Superior Court, which started last month.
Trump administration ordered to give up documents on deportation decision
San Francisco Chronicle
The Trump administration must turn over documents explaining its decisions to deport more than 200,000 people who were admitted to the United States after catastrophes in their home countries, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Thursday.
Online trolls are using immigration as a wedge issue for November elections
Los Angeles Times
Clad in military jackets, with bandannas hiding their faces, Eddie Alvarez and other members of the Brown Berets clashed with other protesters in Murrieta in July 2014.
LAND USE/HOUSING
Land Use:
Remember when Fresno looked like this? When north of Herndon was just ‘future houses’
Fresno Bee
A cartoon map of Fresno from 1980 has circulated on social media, evoking nostalgia and shock how the city once looked and how much it’s changed.
City seeking proposals for El Dorado Street City Hall recordnet.com
Once administration offices in Stockton City Hall move to their new digs on Weber Avenue, officials are hoping the current building can be reused to revitalize downtown.
Dog House Grill owners to open new restaurant in Visalia
ABC30
After years of slow movement, interest in a South Valley shopping development has skyrocketed over the last several months. The possibility of a Dog House Grill in the South Valley has lots of people talking on social media.
Fitzgerald: City at cross-purposes over Empire Theatre
The disastrous mishandling of the Empire Theatre closure keeps getting worse, though it's hard to top the closure without warning of nine ma and pa businesses.
L'Oreal and Tejon Ranch agree to deal to bring distribution center to Kern County
Bakersfield Californian
L’Oreal has agreed to the terms of a lease with Tejon Ranch Co., and is planning to relocate a distribution center to the Tejon Ranch Commerce Center.
Housing:
New effort on housing on BART land
San Francisco Chronicle
When Assemblyman David Chiu gazes at a moat of asphalt encircling a suburban BART station, he sees a solution to the region’s housing crisis.
The human side of California's housing meltdown
Capitol Weekly
Brianne Tufts is exhausted. This is the third place Tufts has lived in as many years, and she’s worried she’ll have to move again because her apartment complex might increase the rent now that her lease has expired.
How HUD Can Help the Housing Market
WSJ
Washington doesn’t control local zoning, but it can exercise influence.
California’s poverty rate is getting better—except where it isn’t
CALmatters
California still has the nation’s highest poverty rate when you take into account the state’s high cost of living. But the number of people living in poverty here has dropped since the beginning of the decade.
PUBLIC FINANCES
California homeowners get to pass low property taxes to their kids. It's proved highly profitable to an elite group
Los Angeles Times
Prop 13, which has strictly limited property tax increases since 1978. But there is also benefit from an additional tax break, enacted eight years later, that extended those advantages to inherited property — even inherited property that is used for rental income.
Senate GOP Seeks Tax Law Fixes, Including ‘Retail Glitch’
Roll Call
Senate Finance Chairman Orrin G. Hatch said Thursday that Republicans are aiming to fix at least three glitches in last year’s tax code overhaul, including an error that has so far kept certain restaurants and retailers from taking advantage of a key tax break to renovate their storefronts.
See also:
Congress, Fix This Tax-Reform Glitch WSJ
US on track to borrow most money since 2008 financial crisis: report
MSN
The Treasury Department predicted in a report Monday that the government's borrowing needs for the second half of 2018 will be $769 billion - the highest its borrowed since 2008 during the financial crisis.
TRANSPORTATION
A company dropped off electric scooters in Fresno. City pondering license and next step
Fresno Bee
Would you ditch your car for an electric scooter to get around town? That’s what the Bird company is hoping Fresnans do after it unceremoniously dotted several parts of the city with black electric scooter stations called “nests,” leaving residents, and the city, dazed.
Modesto city council members criticize citizens oversight group on Measure L projects
Modesto Bee
Some Modesto City Council members claim an oversight commission is delaying road projects and overstepping its authority 20 months after voters approved the Measure L sales tax to improve traffic conditions throughout Stanislaus County.
Real ID isn’t the only problem with California’s DMV
Modesto Bee
As California’s Department of Motor Vehicles takes heat for a 46 percent rise in customer wait times over the last year, DMV officials are largely blaming the delays on the number of customers flocking to local offices to get their Real IDs.
How self-driving cars are poised to move into the mainstream and upend the automotive industry
Business Insider
The self-driving car is no longer a futuristic fantasy. Consumers can already buy vehicles that, within a few years time, will get software updates enabling them to hit the road without the need for a driver.
Get in Line: Backlog for Big Rigs Stretches to 2019
WSJ
With freight demand red-hot, truck manufacturers expect to break records for orders this year, and deliveries will reach deep into next year
California High-Speed Rail Authority
The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) issued its annual Sustainability Report, which details how the Authority is already putting sustainability into action.
WATER
Tax on California water revived to clean up drinking water – but it’s voluntary
Fresno Bee
Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers are rebooting an effort to pass a new tax to attack unsafe drinking water in California. But there’s a twist: The proposed tax on water bills would be voluntary, increasing its chances of success among skittish lawmakers in an election year.
To Pay For 1,2,3-TCP Cleanup, A Viable Strategy: Sue
VPR
In our 2017 series Contaminated, we told the stories of communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley struggling to access safe drinking water. Since then, the state has begun regulating a new drinking water contaminant.
Delta tunnels inflation-adjusted cost rises to nearly $20 billion, California says
Sacramento Bee
The estimated cost of the Delta tunnels project, Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial plan to re-engineer the troubled hub of California’s water network, has jumped to nearly $20 billion when accounting for inflation.
Last-ditch attempt to settle San Joaquin water wars
CALmatters
California Resources Secretary John Laird is making a final attempt to negotiate a deal with major water users to voluntarily reduce use before a separate agency imposes regulations.
“Xtra”
Philip Levine Prize for Poetry 2018 - Deadline: October 1, 2018
Fresno State News
The Philip Levine Prize for Poetry 2018 includes: a cash award of $2,000; publication of the manuscript by Anhinga Press; 25 author’s copies of the published book; and a public reading at California State University, Fresno.
Writer William Saroyan’s Longtime Fresno Home Opens As Museum
Fresno State News
The Fresno house where famed writer William Saroyan spent the last two decades of his life will open as a museum on Aug. 31, the 110th anniversary of his birth, with a private reception. Beginning in September, the William Saroyan House-Museum will be open for tours by appointment online.
Noriega Palooza a chance to see local bands and new changes at iconic venue
Bakersfield Californian
If you've lived in Bakersfield long enough, you've likely been to Noriega House, a sprawling, historic venue in east Bakersfield.
Take me home! Dogs available for adoption
Bakersfield Californian
These four dogs at Kern County Animal Services are looking for their forever homes. Can you help?
Get the best Black Friday deal
Bakersfield Californian
Black cats don't have the best reputations. But if anyone learned anything from "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," black cats are the best. That's why the SPCA is celebrating Black Cat Appreciation Day Friday with a discounted adoption fee on black cats and kittens.
Foundation aims to help local nonprofits raise funds with new technology
Bakersfield Californian
The foundation, using funds from the Kern County Board of Supervisors, hopes to connect five local charities to a training program that could radically change how those charities connect to potential donors.
Explore Redwoods
The Save the Redwoods League has built a great redwoods trip planner that lets you plug in what you want to do and where you want to go — from Central California to the Oregon border — to find trails, camping, and trees as old as the Parthenon.